Congressman Misspells the Name of His Own State in High-Stakes Campaign Ad

Rep. Mike Collins launched his U.S. Senate campaign with an ad that spelled Georgia wrong

NEED TO KNOW

• Rep. Mike Collins launched his 2026 U.S. Senate campaign over the weekend
• The Georgia Republican misspelled his home state in a campaign video published on X
• If Collins wins the Republican nomination, he would face Sen. Jon Ossoff, the only incumbent Democratic senator from a state Trump won in 2024 who is seeking re-election in 2026

Congressman Mike Collins launched his campaign for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat with a campaign video that misspelled his home state’s name.

At the end of the campaign video, published on X on Sunday, July 27, Collins unveiled a slogan reading, “Georgia, Let’s Ride.” The slogan spelled his state as “Georiga.” The video remains up on his X page.

The clip was met with an immediate response on X, with observers making fun of the spelling mistake. “Where is Georiga?” one person asked. “Knowing how to spell the name of your own state should at least be a baseline requirement for running for the Senate,” another X user wrote.

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Collins’ campaign also published a video on YouTube on Monday, July 28, without the “Georgia, Let’s Ride” slogan. 

Collins, 58, has represented Georgia’s 10th congressional district since January 2023 and has branded himself as a strong supporter of President Donald Trump. He is running for the Republican nomination to face incumbent U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat. 

The Georgia Republican co-owns a family trucking firm and first ran for Congress in 2014. His father, the late Mac Collins, served in the U.S. House from 1993 to 2005 and ran an unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign in 2004.

In March 2024, Mike Collins introduced the Laken Riley Act, which is named after a Georgia resident who was killed by a man who entered the country illegally, in the House. The act, which was signed into law by Trump in January 2025 and earned bipartisan support in the House and Senate, requires non-citizens charged with theft to be detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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Collins also drew attention in February 2024, when he was temporarily suspended from X for suggesting a person federal authorities arrested should be transported by “Pinochet Air,” referencing Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. He also drew criticism in March 2024, when he promoted a post from an antisemitic account, per the Associated Press.

Ossoff is the only incumbent Democratic senator from a state Trump won in 2024 who is up for re-election in November 2026. He won his seat alongside Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is also a Democrat, in November 2022.